Cabinet bows to MPs' demand, hikes allowances

New Delhi (IANS)- Bowing to persistent pressure from dissatisfied MPs, the union cabinet Monday decided to hike the allowances of parliamentarians by Rs.10,000 per month, but left their three-fold salary hike unaltered.

The allowance hike comprises a raise of Rs.5,000 each in their constituency and office expense allowances.

The cabinet met here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to reconsider and suitably amend the draft of the MPs' salary hike bill it cleared last week.

A section of MPs was demanding a 500 percent increase in the parliamentarians' pay of Rs.16,000 a month and severely criticised  the three-fold hike the government proposed.

Sources told IANS that the cabinet gave its nod to a hike in the non-taxable perks -- constituency and office allowances -- given to MPs but decided not to alter the 300 percent raise in their monthly salary - from Rs.16,000 a month to Rs.50,000.

The latest decision comes two days after Congress trouble shooter and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee met the protesting MPs over the issue. Though it remains to be seen if the parliamentarians agree to the additional hike, the sources said Mukherjee has already taken them into confidence.

Political parties have reacted differently to the move. While the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has welcomed it, the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) has opposed it.

The BJP has said it is against a "trade union-like approach" to the issue.

BJP spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman said a hike in the emoluments was necessary but the government should evolve an index-based or some other mechanism to decide the quantum and timing of hike and MPs should not be making recommendations themselves to hike their salaries.

She said the party MPs had left it to the system and had made no demands for an increase.

"Whatever state the economy is in, the BJP did not want to be insensitive at all... The issue has several nuances. The MPs are not feeling overjoyed. They are uneasy that they have to clear hike in their own salary," Sitharaman told IANS.

NCP spokesman D.P. Tripathi welcomed the move, saying "it was long overdue".

"The MPs need basic facilities. The criticism of hike is not correct," he said.

Congress spokesman Shakeel Ahmed said the government had decided on a hike through consultations and the party was with the decision.

"There were demands for hike based on the recommendations of a parliamentary committee. The government has found a middle road," he said.

CPI-M leader Basudeb Acharia said the party was against the hike in salary of MPs. "It is not right for MPs to get the house adjourned for a hike in their salaries," he said, adding that people were already coping up with price rise.

Acharia said there should be a commission to decide about hike in emoluments and MPs should not make recommendations.

The government earlier Friday cleared the salary hike proposal and doubled some other perks, but dissatisfied MPs from various parties stalled Lok Sabha proceedings demanding more.

The protesting MPs led by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Lalu Prasad said it is less than the Rs.80,001 as recommended by a parliamentary committee, which had proposed that MPs should get at least a rupee more than top bureaucrats.

An MP at present gets Rs.16,000 as monthly salary and a daily allowance of Rs.1,000 for each day when parliament is in session or taking part in house committee meetings. This has also been doubled.

Besides, a member is entitled to a constituency allowance of Rs.20,000 a month and an office expense allowance of Rs.20,000 each month. Sources said the government has hiked these allowances each by Rs.5,000 more.

MPs' conveyance allowance has gone up from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.4 lakh. Spouses of MPs are entitled to free train travel from their place of residence to Delhi. They also get up to eight free plane tickets from their place of residence to Delhi.

The bill seeking amendments to the Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament Act, 1954, will now be tabled in parliament - most likely Wednesday to be passed by both houses before the hike is actually implemented.

The increase will be given with retrospective effect since the beginning of the current Lok Sabha, the 15th, which means MPs will get arrears from May 2009.